Okay, I know that looking for any rational, reasoned exchange of ideas on the Internet is pretty much futile.
Still, lately I’ve been finding the polarized comments between Obama and Clinton supporters a little stunning.
Commenters, like bloggers (myself included) are not typical voters. Still I find it fascinating how angry the Obama and Clinton partisans are at one another. It’s not just on one or two sites, but all across the Internet.
I am seeing a vicious war of words, and I wonder how any candidate can hope to put this all back together.
Oh, I know that Internet bloggers and commenters are only a tiny fraction of the electorate and they hold much stronger and less nuanced viewpoints than typical voters.
But, you can’t help be struck by how vehemently the two camps dislike one another. (Even on this very modest site, I note that the very first two individuals to comment when I launched the blog were an Obama and a Clinton supporter, trading insults with one another)
Obama supporters hate Hillary Clinton because she considers this to be a political campaign and is willing to fight for the nomination. But, should we expect (or even want) anything less from a candidate? The Clinton supporters are frustrated by the media’s fawning over Obama — but should we expect the left leaning media (and there are plenty of objective studies out there to verify the media’s liberal bias) to be objective when they’ve finally found an unrepentant liberal who actually has a chance at nomination?
Like many of my fellow Republicans, I am a little amused by the Clinton’s shock over finding out the the “vast right wing conspiracy” amounts to a flea, when compared to the Great Dane that is left wing media bias.
I just finished reading one well-thought-out article focusing on the risks to the Democrat Party if they fail to nominate Obama. But, I believe there are almost equal risks to denying the nomination to Clinton.
Demographically, Clinton’s base looks a lot like the Republican base. Certainly, a large percentage of that base is comprised of core liberals who won’t support John McCain under any circumstance.
But, what about the rest? Obama’s main (perhaps only) appeal is charisma. Clinton supporters have already demonstrated that they have a natural resistence to Obama Fever. They’ve found in Hillary a certain comfort level — whether it is perceived competence, experience, yearning for the safety and prosperity of the 90s, achievement…
However it is defined, these are characteristics that voters will find more of in John McCain than Barack Obama. Obama insists Clinton voters will support him in the fall. I’m not so sure.
